hard disk

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hard disk Rigid magnetic disk for storing computer programs and data. A built-in hard disk drive in a typical personal computer consists of a number of hard platters, coated with a magnetic material set on a common spindle. They are housed inside a sealed container, with a motor to spin the stack of platters, a head to write (record) and read (replay) each side of each platter, and associated electronic circuits. Hard disk capacity is continually being increased: most computers are now sold with a disk of at least 500Mb (500 megabytes, or 500 million bytes) capacity.

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